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California College of the Arts is collaborating with the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI) (a partner of the International Design Alliance) in its Design Future: Interiors Entity initiative by hosting a regional "think tank" here at the college on the San Francisco campus this Saturday, November 6.

About the R.A.W. Photo Contest Winners

CCA Film students Ted Hayden, a recent finalist in the college's R.A.W. Video contest, and Chun-Ping "Sunday" Wang have had their video submission awarded the grand prize in the national Vote Again 2010 Video Contest. Together the filmmakers directed, filmed, and edited Action 2010, which uses a surreal visual style to depict a young voter on a symbolic journey toward mailing in her absentee ballot.

As writers, we all turn to various sources of inspiration to lend our work; it's an inevitable part of the journey. Sometimes we seek interaction—engaging with others at readings and exhibitions. Other times we delve into our imaginations, relishing in our own personal sanctuaries.

In summer 2008, the artist Alexandra Grant (MFA 2000) was invited to participate in the newly relaunched Watts House Project (WHP), an ambitious undertaking spearheaded by the internationally renowned artist Edgar Arceneaux. She hoped her design would attract attention, but little did she know quite how much she'd receive, and how international it would be!

Q. Your job involves a lot of international travel. What are some global trends in art and design education?

The overarching trend is simply the belief that art and design education has become more important—that it’s a lively, dynamic field. Creativity and innovation are the most valuable currencies of our time. We hear that China has started around 1,000 new art and design programs in the last 10 to 15 years, and there are similar government-led education initiatives across the globe, particularly in Asia (including India), starting at the primary and secondary school levels.

The premise is that the new global economy will be built on the creative industries, and there will be more professional opportunities and more spheres of influence for artists and designers. In much of Asia, traditional ways of teaching and learning are not seen as conducive to creativity and innovation. When I’m over there I’m often asked questions about how to teach and instill creativity.

The skyscraper is architecture's ultimate icon. The term itself conjures images of seemingly impossible, awe-inspiring loft, and as a design proposition the skyscraper raises some of architecture's biggest questions. Is it possible for a sense of community to develop among inhabitants of a vertical, stratified environment? What is the essence of a slender form? This book, the latest installment in CCA's Architecture Studio Series, documents several innovative answers by CCA students and faculty. It is designed by Mike Hu and Mai Ogiva, Graphic Design undergraduates in CCA's Sputnik studio, and edited by Ila Berman (director of Architecture) and Nataly Gattegno (Architecture faculty).

This new journal, edited by Jens Hoffmann (CCA Wattis Institute director) and published twice a year, is devoted entirely to the practice of exhibition making. It is made by curators, for curators; the objective is to create a wider platform for the discussion of curatorial concerns, encourage a diversification of curatorial models, and actively contribute to the formation of a theory of curating. This second issue includes essays by Jack Bankowsky (Artforum), Peter Eely (MoMA PS1), Okwui Enwezor (Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art), and Nato Thompson (Creative Time, New York).